Ms Laura Elfield > Deka Chambers > London, England > Barrister Profile

Ms Laura Elfield

020 7832 0500 lelfield@dekachambers.com

Work Department

Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence

Position

Laura has a mixed civil practise, specialising in personal injury, employment law, professional negligence and clinical negligence. A significant part of Laura’s personal injury practise is made up of employer’s liability, including industrial disease, claims. Laura has a particular interest in the interface between personal injury and employment law, including claims involving bullying and harassment and long term sickness and disability.

Laura also undertakes child abuse work, including regular appearances before the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority and the Irish Review Board – both in London and in Dublin. Allied to these areas of work, she has expertise in high value psychiatric injury claims. In the employment field, Laura appears for claimants and respondents, in the public and private sectors. Although she undertakes a range of work, she has particular expertise in handling complex discrimination and whistleblowing claims. She enjoys the challenge of advocacy in the Tribunal and feels this brings an added dimension to her personal injury practice.

Laura has a varied professional negligence and clinical negligence practise. She is able to provide specialist advice in the tricky areas of compromise and abuse of process in cases involving overlapping personal injury and employment jurisdictions. Laura also has expertise in human rights and constitutional law. As a Pegasus Scholar in 2001, she undertook work at the Human Rights Commission in Sydney, Australia. She has twice appeared in the Privy Council on matters relating to the Mauritian education system.

Laura regularly provides seminars on a range of topics. She is also able to offer public access work.

Career

Called 1996.

Education

BA (Hons) Modern History, Oxford University,

CPE (Distinction) Sussex University.